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My 2nd outdoor grow is full of probs after flood

CannaRed

Cannabinerd
If you can get some clearer photographs, I wouldn't mind asking where I am, it is legal in Massachusetts.

Agent, I'm gonna go check it out. Either this evening or in the morning. I hope I won't find anymore, but I'm sure I will because I didn't check too many leaves before I found that one. I'll try my best to get a clear pic!

Thanks for the help!!
 

AgentPothead

Just this guy, ya know?
Glad to help bro! It's not fair the way the laws are not equal everywhere and I feel like since I'm in a legal state I am kind of obligated to help out those who aren't yet. Emphasis on yet cause we will get there.
 

therevverend

Well-known member
Veteran
Sure it isn't perlite stuck to the bottom of the leaf?
I'd remove it and toss it. Or keep it in a jar and see what emerges. Probably not a big deal, it's not like aliens will emerge and devour your plants. Well, maybe caterpillars..
What happened with the spots? I've seen similar damage from scales. I'm guessing it was from the barrage of insects after the flood. I'm guessing the plant is happy and growing vigorously. I'd be surprised if you're finding more spots.
 

CannaRed

Cannabinerd
Sure it isn't perlite stuck to the bottom of the leaf?
I'd remove it and toss it. Or keep it in a jar and see what emerges. Probably not a big deal, it's not like aliens will emerge and devour your plants. Well, maybe caterpillars..
What happened with the spots? I've seen similar damage from scales. I'm guessing it was from the barrage of insects after the flood. I'm guessing the plant is happy and growing vigorously. I'd be surprised if you're finding more spots.

It's not perlite. They are smaller than the chunks I use, and doesn't turn to dust like perlite. I wish I had done the jar thing!

Spots. The newer growth doesn't have spots. Some of the older leaves are starting to get them.

I have looked at a bunch of deficiency charts. They all seem to be different.

Are the spots a calcium prob?
 

CannaRed

Cannabinerd
Went back today, didn't see anymore eggs.

The new growth comes out fine but after a while they start getting spots too.
 

wvkindbud38

Elite Growers Club
Veteran
We've had a helluva spring/summer....multiple floods, numerous HEAVY rains. It's been rough on the plants dealing with these hard rains and 90d + days. Not to even mention this is one of the most humid places there is. I've got a guerilla patch or so on the main top of a Mtn. that's doing ok....fingers crossed
 

therevverend

Well-known member
Veteran
Yeah I was joking about the perlite..
Pretty sure those were ladybug eggs. It's a good lesson on why you shouldn't destroy something when you don't know what it is. Here's a link:
https://www.ladybug-life-cycle.com/

I've seen ladybug eggs before and they were yellow so I was thinking beetle (ladybugs are beetles but there's plenty of other kinds) or caterpillar eggs. Be sure to look at the larvae pictures I hope you haven't been smushing them. I almost did the first time I saw them but something told me to look them up before I killed them. They don't look anything like ladybugs I was surprised and happy I stayed my hand.
Outdoors ganja becomes a part of nature, part of the balance of predator and prey. I don't like treating outdoor plants with sprays and pesticides because of this. My plants have plenty of leafhoppers and grasshoppers, and sometimes I find cutworm and slug damage. But I have lots of ladybugs, predatory wasps, and spiders which balance things out. And most importantly the damage they do is minor, not to the point of a major infestation. If it's minor why fuck with it?
Of course infestations are different, be they rodent, deer, caterpillar, mites or whatever. Which comes back to the leaf spots. I'm not 100% but I don't think they're caused by a deficiency. Well, the plants could be deficient which makes them susceptible to disease. I'm thinking fungus attack or possibly bacteria. If your plants are healthy and vigorous they'll probably outgrow it. Especially since it's only attacking old growth.
I'm glad I'm not growing in a humid area I know in the East you have terrible pest infestations that require management plans. I'm still thinking potassium carbonate is your best bet. Greencure is the brand name, I mentioned it before. I know it's used by professional growers of apples, wine, tobacco, and the like.
It works by changing the PH chemistry of the leaves. Don't know if it'll work on your spots but it's cheap so it's probably worth a try. Plus it'll take out any grey mold or powdery mildew spores. I'd spray all your plants down, even the unaffected ones after a rainstorm as a preventative measure.
There's also copper and sulfur fungicides. These are harsher on the plants so I'd use them as a last resort. Not sure how safe they are to use on flowering plants. I know Green Cure is approved up to the day before harvest for organic crops.
Which comes back to calcium and magnesium which can wipe out fungal attacks by fixing nutrient deficiencies. Epsom salts is a great source as is the kelp meal recommended earlier. Epsom salts is cheap and easy to find. All it is is magnesium and calcium unlike the kelp meal which may have variable amounts. I'd probably use both, mix the kelp meal and epsom salt with water and feed them.
Since I discovered my soil is deficient in calcium and magnesium I keep finding more applications for magnesium. I find myself recommending magnesium all the time. Once you learn to spot something like that you start to notice it everywhere. And everyone focuses on N-P-K they tend to skip on micro-nutrients. Which a lot of soils are deficient in.
One thing I've learned from my experience is that plants can be deficient in Cal-Mag causing nutrient lock out without showing signs. Which can cause problems to manifest like fungal attacks.
 

AgentPothead

Just this guy, ya know?
If those really are ladybug eggs, you might have a mite infestation. From that link therevverend linked.
Once the eggs hatch, the larvae will come out and start looking for something to eat. They will look for tiny mites or aphids and they should find plenty because the mother found the perfect leaf to lay her eggs under because of the abundance of food for the larvae to find.
Good luck CannaRed!
 

therevverend

Well-known member
Veteran
I think that may be literary exaggeration. I've seen baby ladybugs all over my garden. There's spider mites, aphids, and thrips plenty to feed the ladies but not enough to start an infestation.
The only time I've actually taken damage from spider mites outdoors, I used the same line from my beans to tie up my ganja. Big mistake. When the beans died back after harvest the mites marched up the line to my ganja and set up shop.
Even then it was mostly removing leaves and spraying with the hose. I've seen webbed up nasty indoor plants moved outside that lost the infestation and grew up into healthy vigorous plants within 3 weeks.
Likewise I've seen healthy vigorous plants moved indoors get covered in webs in 6 weeks. Indoor vs outdoor is a totally different game for pests.
Of course it's possible the eggs are something else. They don't look like caterpillar eggs but you never know. I'm certain it's a beetle of some kind. At any rate there aren't enough of them to either start an infestation or make a huge difference if they're predators. An interesting part of nature we'd never notice if we weren't so focused in on ganja.
Oh I should mention that magnesium and calcium are similar deficiencies and the treatments often overlap. Many people use lime for calcium. I think it's dangerous to use too much lime, I always use a small amount to help with the PH. But I assume that it's not enough to feed the plant entirely. I always use bonemeal, epsom salt, kelp meal, or other sources of calcium. Which contain magnesium as well.
 

CannaRed

Cannabinerd
Yeah I was joking about the perlite..
Pretty sure those were ladybug eggs. It's a good lesson on why you shouldn't destroy something when you don't know what it is. Here's a link:
https://www.ladybug-life-cycle.com/

I've seen ladybug eggs before and they were yellow so I was thinking beetle (ladybugs are beetles but there's plenty of other kinds) or caterpillar eggs. Be sure to look at the larvae pictures I hope you haven't been smushing them. I almost did the first time I saw them but something told me to look them up before I killed them. They don't look anything like ladybugs I was surprised and happy I stayed my hand.
Outdoors ganja becomes a part of nature, part of the balance of predator and prey. I don't like treating outdoor plants with sprays and pesticides because of this. My plants have plenty of leafhoppers and grasshoppers, and sometimes I find cutworm and slug damage. But I have lots of ladybugs, predatory wasps, and spiders which balance things out. And most importantly the damage they do is minor, not to the point of a major infestation. If it's minor why fuck with it?
Of course infestations are different, be they rodent, deer, caterpillar, mites or whatever. Which comes back to the leaf spots. I'm not 100% but I don't think they're caused by a deficiency. Well, the plants could be deficient which makes them susceptible to disease. I'm thinking fungus attack or possibly bacteria. If your plants are healthy and vigorous they'll probably outgrow it. Especially since it's only attacking old growth.
I'm glad I'm not growing in a humid area I know in the East you have terrible pest infestations that require management plans. I'm still thinking potassium carbonate is your best bet. Greencure is the brand name, I mentioned it before. I know it's used by professional growers of apples, wine, tobacco, and the like.
It works by changing the PH chemistry of the leaves. Don't know if it'll work on your spots but it's cheap so it's probably worth a try. Plus it'll take out any grey mold or powdery mildew spores. I'd spray all your plants down, even the unaffected ones after a rainstorm as a preventative measure.
There's also copper and sulfur fungicides. These are harsher on the plants so I'd use them as a last resort. Not sure how safe they are to use on flowering plants. I know Green Cure is approved up to the day before harvest for organic crops.
Which comes back to calcium and magnesium which can wipe out fungal attacks by fixing nutrient deficiencies. Epsom salts is a great source as is the kelp meal recommended earlier. Epsom salts is cheap and easy to find. All it is is magnesium and calcium unlike the kelp meal which may have variable amounts. I'd probably use both, mix the kelp meal and epsom salt with water and feed them.
Since I discovered my soil is deficient in calcium and magnesium I keep finding more applications for magnesium. I find myself recommending magnesium all the time. Once you learn to spot something like that you start to notice it everywhere. And everyone focuses on N-P-K they tend to skip on micro-nutrients. Which a lot of soils are deficient in.
One thing I've learned from my experience is that plants can be deficient in Cal-Mag causing nutrient lock out without showing signs. Which can cause problems to manifest like fungal attacks.

I probably should have saved it to see what happens. I was picking off some of the more damaged leaves, and just happened to see it laying upside down on the ground.

I should have put it in a jar.

I will hit up Amazon for green cure.

Epsom salts are magnesium sulfate. Mag and sulfur, but no calcium I believe.

As far as kelp are u making a tea for foliar? Or top dressing?

Thanks so much for the help!
 

therevverend

Well-known member
Veteran
No Calcium in the Epsom Salts but it can unlock calcium, nitrogen, and other nutrients in the soil the plant couldn't get at. There's conflicting info on the web, people will say Mag and Cal compete for uptake. I believe the trick is not to overdo it if it's over saturated in Mag it'll block Cal uptake because they use similar pathways. With micro-nutrients you don't need to go crazy some people think if a little is good more is better but it doesn't work like that.
With the kelp I do both but as it gets later in the season I switch to teas either with watering or for foliar feeding. With top dressing you can't control how much of a dose the plant is getting. I like to cut back on the feeding towards the end of flowering and use water only for the last 2 or 3 weeks. A top dressed nutrient could still be lingering in the soil and interfere with my flush.
Not sure if I mentioned Langbeinite earlier. It's a mineral that contains potassium, sulfur, and magnesium. Good way to get bang for your buck. It's 0-0-22, great for flowering but highly concentrated it'd be easy to overdo it.
 

CannaRed

Cannabinerd
Had to cut down my last copy of Pineapple Express today. Last year I lost about 1/4th of the pineapple harvest to grey/blue mold. Three other growers had to pull theirs this year as well (and theirs didn't get flooded and caked in mud).
Oh well, on to different and dankier strains.
 

CannaRed

Cannabinerd
No Calcium in the Epsom Salts but it can unlock calcium, nitrogen, and other nutrients in the soil the plant couldn't get at. There's conflicting info on the web, people will say Mag and Cal compete for uptake. I believe the trick is not to overdo it if it's over saturated in Mag it'll block Cal uptake because they use similar pathways.

Yeah alot of growers believe that call/mag should be sold as two different products. If cal is needed- add cal and vice versa. Depending upon a soil test of course.
 

therevverend

Well-known member
Veteran
Yes as I've gotten experience with my soil I've gone from using a single bottle that contains everything to getting a separate bag for each nutrient. But that's tricky too. Adding a bit of 1-0-0 then some 5-0-0 then 6-3-4 can leave you wondering where the ratio is.
My soil is sandy so it's perpetually deficient in Cal and Mag so I end up adding lime, bone meal, kelp meal, and epsom salts at different points throughout the season. It's taken a lot of trial and error (mostly error) to work out the right amounts to add when.
This year I made a point of adding plenty of P and K during Veg and they loved it. Everyone is focused on adding more and more N during Veg they forget about the other nutrients. You don't want to overdo it but cannabis uses a lot of P and and especially K early.
You'll see leaves turn dark blueish-green or glow blue during Veg. A kelp/algae like color. Because you're taught to add lots of N and that light colored yellowish-green colors are bad you think the plants are fine. But they're not that's a sign of K-Cal-Mag deficiency.
Sometimes after I fertilize heavily with N I'll see the plants turn a bit blueish, probably because all the N is locking up the other nutrients. After a day or two they'll switch back to dark green and stack on new growth.
 

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